In a large bowl, with a hand mixer combine cream cheese and butter. Add sugars and vanilla; mix until well blended and smooth. Add eggs and mix until well incorporated. With mixer on low add dry ingredients and liqueur alternately to the wet mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Gently fold in chocolate chips. Batter will be very thick.

Using an ice cream scoop, divide the batter evenly between the 12 cupcake liners. Bake cupcakes about 20-22 minutes or until the centers are set.

Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make Buttercream: Blend all ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Transfer to a pastry bag with decorative tip and store in the refrigerator until ready to frost.

Like this:

I LOVE brownies and I LOVE cheesecake…putting the two together is absolute heaven. These little gems are SO tasty and fairly easy to make. I have made them with both regular sugar and Swerve (erythritol) and they have turned out great both ways. They also work nicely in a mini-muffin cup for an even smaller bite-sized treat. I have not tried them in anything but the silicone liners though so I’m not sure how they’d do in a paper liner…I think they have enough fat in them that they would slip right out but I can’t say for sure. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Preheat oven to 350° F and set 16 silicone muffin cups on a large baking sheet.

For the cheesecake layer, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese and powdered erythritol (or sugar) until smooth. Beat in egg until well combined. Add orange zest and orange flavor extract and beat until smooth and well mixed. Set aside.

Do you really need a special occasion to make a batch of cupcakes? I think not, but…when I came upon this adorable cupcake display at Williams Sonoma last month I knew without a doubt that Easter dessert this year would be CUPCAKES! At least this holiday occasion would give me the opportunity to make several different kinds and lots of them (the display holds 24-36)!!! From all the wonderful flavors, fillings and frostings to choose from…here are the ones that made the cut…Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is of course a must, being Easter and all…humm, you have got to have something chocolate so I settled on a Chocolate Fudge Cupcake with a Whipped Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting…fruit? definitely, Raspberry filled Vanilla Cupcake with Dark Chocolate Ganache and a light and airy Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake Cupcake with Blueberries. It was so much fun making and decorating these little treats but the real joy was sharing them with my family, especially since they were all grain-free, gluten-free and refined sugar-free!

The Final Four

My favorite was the Chocolate Fudge Cupcake with Whipped Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting, for several reasons…1) it’s peanut butter and chocolate, 2) well, it’s peanut butter and chocolate and 3) should I say it again? it’s peanut butter and chocolate. This recipe is adapted from one that my grandmother makes called Carol’s Fudge Muffins, I don’t know who Carol is but this woman is a genius, these muffins are rich and fudgy but still light enough to be a cupcake rather than a brownie…Mama always made them with pecans and no frosting but I chose to omit the pecans this time since I was going to use a peanut butter frosting…they are equally delicious both ways! Now, since I’ve been eating a mostly primal diet I don’t eat peanuts or peanut butter and would normally substitute almond butter in the frosting recipe but for Easter…its just got to be peanut butter!

Chocolate Fudge Cupcake

2 ounces dark chocolate (I used Dagoba Chocodrops 70%)

1/2 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup + 2Tbsp. coconut palm sugar

1/2 cup quinoa flour

2 eggs

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 F and line 12 muffin cups with paper or foil liners.

In a large bowl mix together flour and sugar. In a small saucepan melt butter and chocolate and whisk until smooth. Add butter and chocolate to flour mixture and stir until smooth. Add slightly beaten eggs, stir in – do not beat. Add vanilla and chopped nuts (if using). Divide evenly between muffin cups. Bake 22-25 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Whipped Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz cream cheese, softened

2 Tbsp. agave, honey or palm sugar

1 Tbsp. vanilla

pinch of sea salt

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup cold heavy whipped cream

Beat cream cheese, peanut butter, agave, vanilla and sea salt on medium speed with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl beat heavy whip cream until stiff peaks form (for best results chill bowl and whisk in freezer before beating the whip cream). Gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture. Frosting can be made one day ahead and stored in the refrigerator until ready to use. Be sure cupcakes are completely cooled before frosting.